To me, "normal" people are the incredibly boring people who only like stuff that's mainstream and is "cool" or "in" at that point in time. Anime fans have a hard time where I am, not many of us around here. I think mostly it's because people are misinformed. A lot of people hate anime because they think all anime is hentai, or all anime is for kids. They've never tried to watch an anime themselves, so how are they going to know?

There are a few oddballs that give anime fans a bad reputation. Unfortunately, most normal people can't see past that. They see one weirdo who likes anime and think "oh, every single anime fan in the world must be like this then." Too much generalistation.

Outside of the clique, anime fans gets railed on. Is this right? No. Not at all. But is it totally false? Wellll

I mean we do watch some weird stuff, and do have a few apples here and there who spoil the lot to outsiders. I don't know if all anime fans are weird, but most fandoms of our sort are freaky in their own way.

But are anime fans more likely to be weird than the "normal" people out there? And why do some embrace weirdness? Do you do this?

Am I wrong? (spoiler: Maybe)

AiYumega san, just a gentle opinion from an avid fan of both anime and american cartoons ^_^ Being a child who was generally interested in quiet activities likes books and writing, I generally didn't fit in with most my age; usually because their interest in TV were live-action only or very different sorts of American programs. So I was a bit lost in the loop ^_^;;; but I was regarded as generally a wee bit strange because I watched what a lot of children didn't ^-^ I think it might have to do with region too; and perhaps personality, I suppose? Pretty much my school pals limited their stuff to Pokemon, Digimon and that was it I would get up at 7 years old, at 5AM on saturday mornings just to watch GoLion No other kids I know had that sort of dedication *giggles*

So i clicked on this forum and my dad was sitting in the chair behind me and saw the guy licking the screen, and gave me this look like "wow i just lost respect for you" i had to explain why i was looking at this..... Thanks. Thanks. lol As for anime fans being weird ehhhh thats a sterotype just like any others. some are some are just normal guys or gals and choose when to talk about it to other fans of anime. lol

No, the "weird" kids center their entire life around their favorite obnoxious American cable cartoon, and try to evangelize to others its "unappreciated genius", and fly into jihadic fan rages if you besmirch the honor of Gravity Falls, Spongebob or....yes, the Ponies.
The anime fans owe half their paychecks to the Bronies for making them look sane.

a handful of them are but im meaning those super extreme fans that have no interest in the 3d world what so ever.

Some of the weird ones are simply fun imo, they seem like nice people to hang out with.

I consider myself a very passionate fan, considering i basically spend upwards of five hours a day watching anime, but I would consider myself a normal person. I dont really think there's anything weird about anime or being a passionate fan of it.

And it depends on your company.
At my first job out of college, I started a pokemon gaming club and was a "cool kid" and we had more people at the pokemon club than we had space to play (the TCG)
Similarly we also talked anime and the like at the Pokemon club.

If I did that at my job now, I'm guessing the only people that would show up would show up out of pity for me.